Star Trek: Ensigns Episode II: Flow
by jaimemventers
Summary: Star Trek Ensigns is an original series following the lives of four recent star fleet academy graduates. I don't own Star Trek, please don't sue me.


**Star Trek: Ensigns**

**Episode II: Flow**

Stardate 45243.6. Personal log of Ensign Bera, security officer. I have completed my nightly duties on the ship's Gamma shift without major incident: one minor domestic disturbance involving three individuals, one suspected of infidelity, one crew member will be spending the night in the brig, another enjoyed the medical expertise of Dr Neric for bruises and a few broken bones before being escorted to another cell in the brig, the third individual involved has been moved to a different room for the night and will be seeking the ships counselors assistance in the morning. My roommate, ensign Seja is currently at the gym working on her cardiovascular routine, I expect her to return in 17 minutes, shower for four minutes, eat for roughly 12 minutes and then go to bed; she has established a routine. I have begun building a social rapport with the ship's doctors, my fellow security personnel, my roommate and her male friends. Two nights ago we had another group dinner, this time in mine and Seja's quarters and I was very confused by my roommate and Ulrik, there was some small talk between them, something about fond memories and suddenly, Seja burst into fits of laughter, pointed at Ulrik and simply said "loo tee fisk" before falling on her back with laughter. Ulrik didn't seem to be enjoying this moment and excused himself, with Seja standing and following after him a few moments later. She returned one hour later, I suspect their relationship may have become more intimate in that time. Seja seemed heavily intoxicated, which, in my opinion, may have contributed to her emotional state. Could they have had a passionate romance that was ended in favor of career only to be rekindled when they learned of one another's assignment? I shall look into this more. Perhaps this "Loo Tee Fisk" is the Romulan equivalent of Ponn Farr? I wouldn't mind participating in a Ponn Farr ritual with an attractive male. Too bad I'm the only one of my species on this ship. Log end.

Ensign Seja entered the room, sweating with a towel around her neck. She did indeed shower for four minutes and eat for 12 minutes 32 seconds, savoring a seaweed salad, steamed rice and soy beans, before retiring to her bed. She lay on her bed for a few minutes, then stood up, pacing for a few moments. She walked over to the small computer on her night stand, tapped a few keys and then heard a voice "I am unavailable to take your call at this time, please leave your name at the tone. Beep." "Mother? Are you there? I need to talk to you, I'm, um, I need, uh, it's, it's about my friend, Ulrik. I haven't been sleeping well, again. Call me sometime in the next 8 hours please? I love you". She hit another button on the computer before climbing in bed. She lay in her bed, eyes open, waiting for the sleep that was unlikely to come.

Fourteen doorways from there Ensign Thorsen was remaking his bed. He was about to enjoy a dinner of steak with gravy and a lingonberry compote before going to bed. As he ate he worked on a computer simulation that he would need for his research. His roommate had moved out of their quarters for reasons unknown to Ulrik, leaving the suite feeling cold, empty. Ulrik expected to receive a new roommate before the end of the week. He wondered why he had trouble keeping roommates, he was a very tidy person, kept his music at a low volume, didn't have lots of visitors, he did everything he could think of to be considerate, but they always left, even from his days in the academy-although that was a very different set of circumstances. His roommate at the academy had stayed two semesters with Ulrik before washing out. The rest of the time at the academy Ulrik would get a new roommate every few weeks that would never be seen, until William showed up in their room, but that was a story onto itsself. Ulrik turned off his light and climbed under his sheets, dreaming of the past, and of someone who he desired.

Stardate 45243.6 Personal log of Ensign Neric Mirid. The night shift has been a disaster. I cannot believe all the miscreants that decided to run amok aboard this ship tonight. First there were four outbreaks of the Rigellian stomach virus (improperly cleaned nozzle in the replicators I suspect. I will be filing a report for a senior technician to inspect it as soon as possible), three broken bones , one of which was dragged in by security, two sub dermal hematomas, just need to add a bloody partridge in a bloody pear tree with irritable bowel syndrome and the night would be complete. In other news after another night where I became excessively drunk, to the point of blacking out and not remembering parts of the night at a dinner party with friends I have decided to go to a twelve step program being offered in the ship, my hope is that maybe I can make good on my promise to my father and clean up my act. I don't want to embarrass myself in front of others again, especially Seja, who I'm growing fond of. I remember her laughing at the party and then nothing, and when I came to I was lying on Ensign Bera's couch. She had already taken my boots and shirt off and by the look in her eyes my pants were next. Log end.

The doctor stood up and walked to the sink scooped water into his hands, splashed his face and rubbed rigorously. He contemplated shaving, but since it had only been two days since the last time he decided against it. He didn't want food, couldn't think of any entertainment that would help, so in the darkness of his room, he knelt, and he prayed. He wasn't a religious man by any stretch of the imagination, but he feared his future, he knew he had a problem and wanted help.

In the office of Xavier Valientine, the ship's first officer Ensign McLaren was thinking. He had just been asked, as a favor, to move to another set of quarters, his room was the closest to sickbay of any room not occupied by medical staff and the individual who would be taking up residence was in the end stage of Struensee's syndrome, a degenerative neurological disorder that led to paranoid delusions and rambling if not treated daily and monitored constantly.

"I'll do it, is there a list of available roommates? " Daniel said

"Yes ensign, here you go" Xavier handed him a Padd with the list.

"Ensign Thorsen is available? I know him, I'd like to request to be assigned to his room." Daniel said with a smile.

"Okay Ensign, start packing, I'll have the forms filled out by the time you're done. You can take your shift off to pack and move. This means a lot to me ensign, thank you. Dismissed." Said Xavier.

"yes sir" replied Daniel, saluting as he left.

Leaving Valientine's office Daniel stopped momentarily at the ship's dedication plaque, reading it aloud "_…And following our will and whim we may just go where no one's been.  
We'll ride the spiral to the end and may just go where no one's been…._ I wonder who M. Keenan was."

"Ensign McLaren?" said Captain Dallas, who had snuck up behind him.

"Yes Captain?" replied the startled Daniel

"I like all my staff to be well versed in the lore of the ship they're stationed on. On the U.S.S Egypt I required all officers to become fluent in the use of Ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics. I want you to find out who Keenan was. Give me a report by 1800 of tomorrow."

"Aye Aye Captain." Daniel then walked to the turbo lift.

Captains log Stardate 45244.6 we are currently patrolling the tutaris nebula, there's been reports of odd gravitational flux in the area, we suspect that a brown dwarf star may be nearby and are trying to find it for mapping.

"Cartography, we've arrived near where the reports of gravitons are coming from, Commander Starling, the Navigational Deflector is at your disposal." The captain said.

"Thank you captain. Information is coming in; I'd like to get the deflector pointed directly at a point I believe to be the location of the brown dwarf. Request that the ship turn 43 degrees starboard, drop us down 753 meters, bring the nose up by 15." Replied the Commander.

"Helm, did you get that?" asked the captain.

"yes ma'am. Adjusting course, that should do the trick." Replied Lieutenant Vermillion.

"oh excellent captain, I think we have our brown dwarf, roughly two million kilometers ahead, although, there's a warble in its gravity, I think there might be a planetoid in orbit, something fairly small, about half the size of earths moon. We're also getting, wait, no, that's, um, oh wow…um, captain, could you come down here?" said the commander.

"On my way" the captain said, leaping from her chair. Upon arrival in the stellar cartography/astro-physics lab her eyes were greeted with an amazing site, on the main view screen there was the image of the planetoid orbiting the brown dwarf, but there was a close up on a specific region of space near the planet. In orbit of the planet were two large jellyfish like creatures, this species having first been encountered by U.S.S Enterprise upon her investigation of the miraculous station dubbed Farpoint. Next to them were two others of their species, only much smaller, maybe one tenth the size of the two larger. Commander Starling turned to the captain and said "We arrived just as the first one came out, the second one popped out just before you got here and I think a third is on the way." The captain's face showed confusion before she saw what Starling was referring to, one of the large jellies tendrils rapidly drew up into a ball at the center of its body before its skin flashed briefly a lightning like shade of white, the tendrils then descended and another small jelly came out from the mass, it floated over to its siblings and started gently touching them. Commander Starling then said out loud "computer, zoom out till we see the whole planet" the image changed, there was now a dozen or so clusters of these space jellies, the Alaska had stumbled upon a birthing ground for these majestic beings. "I thought you should see this here where we can get the highest image quality. I remember serving on the Enterprise when we first saw these, I remember how beautiful they were."

"Thank you Emma, they are spectacular. Do you want to study them up closer?" The Captain asked

She blushed, "Part of me wants to pull up next to them, but then again this is a breeding ground, who knows how hostile they could interpret such a gesture? I'd like to ask if we could send out a single shuttle, a specific shuttle, with one of our biologists." She said.

"I assume by specific shuttle you mean the Diomede? Its still considered experimental, I'll need to send a pilot qualified pilot with it and I'll need to send someone from engineering to monitor the cloaking device and the data flow. Alright, I'll have Lieutenant Vermillion meet your biologist in hangar three in one hour and forward a copy of the Biology report to my office. I need to head to the bridge. Are you up for poker night?" the captain asked

"I wouldn't miss it for the world." She said.

In engineering Lieutenant Tourej has just finished speaking with the captain. "OK people, listen up, Johnson, head to shuttle bay three, you got special assignment and will be briefed further when you get there. Limmer, head to the mess hall, double check replicators three and four for a bacterial build up, take Rister with you. Seja, there's been a malfunction in science, looks like one of the data conduits is misaligned, take care of it double quick they're expecting a big load of never seen before stuff. The rest of you, back to what you were doing."

Seja grabbed a toolkit and headed in the direction of the science department. She dreaded the idea that she might run into her long time friend, Ulrik. She'd messed up badly at the last dinner party. Why did she have to dredge up the past? What made her bring back old pain and wallow in the misery? She hoped desperately that their friendship could survive this latest indiscretion. She arrived in science and sure enough, Ulrik was there, seated next to the very section she had to work on. _Ok, just go over there, work quickly, and get it over with, if he says anything, be polite_ She thought. She headed straight to the terminal he was at, "Excuse me Ensign, I need to work on the panel under your terminal, this should only take a few minutes." She said. He did not respond, did not look at her, just entered a save and log out sequence at the terminal then walked over to another terminal on the opposite side of the room, and sat down with his back to her. She knelt down, popped open the panel, and began examining the data conduit. _Yeah, its loose at junction e43, easy fix _she thought. Chief engineer Tourej had warned the whole department that they should expect problems to start appearing soon, it was to be expected with a ship this new. She had just finished with the work when she noticed that the plasma welder she was holding seemed a whole lot heavier than normal, she backed away from the panel and then noticed the lights seemed to be getting dimmer, she stood up, looked to her fellow Ensign and managed to say "Ulrik? I think something is wrong" before collapsing. She woke up in the sickbay, Dr Neric practically hovering over her with a scanner at her forehead.

"where's Ulrik?" she asked

"he left about fifteen minutes after you arrived, you've been asleep for about an hour, are you alright?" he asked.

"you tell me" she replied

"well, let me ask you this, have you had any difficulties with sleeping or eating?" he asked.

"I'm having some trouble with sleep, I think I just need more time adjusting to this schedule. As far as food goes, I try to eat healthy." She replied

"define healthy" he said

"I don't skip meals, I eat mostly fruits and vegetables, I'm used to a raw food diet, I don't think what we get in the replicators is quite as nutritious as what I used to get back home." She mused.

"okay, so far what you've said agrees with my diagnoses. Stress related fatigue, with a slight lack of protein. I'll give you a protein and mineral supplement that should help. I have informed the Chief engineer of what happened, she asked me to tell you to come see her as soon as you felt better. You do have some hormonal fluctuations that are suspicious, how is your mood been? Your love life?" he asked.

"I'm having personal problems with Ulrik, but I'm not currently dating anyone." She said.

"oh, I'm sorry. I thought you two were together." He said, surprised.

"um, no, there's currently no one in my life, I need to get out more but I doubt anyone on this ship would be interested." She said

"you would be surprised" he said, thoughtfully.

"would I now? Anyone I know?" she smiled

"possibly. My prescription is for you to first breathe, drink water, eat full meals, rest, and socialize. Head over to the ships lounge, meet people, interact." He said, smiling.

"I will do that. Thank you." She replied as she stood up and left.

A few doors down Ensign McLaren had finished packing the last of his things, and was leaving this room for the last time. He tried to live without much stuff and managed to pack his world into one duffle bag and a backpack, outside of a weeks worth of uniforms and his personal hygiene kit, he had a bottle of 18th century scotch, a tartan of clan McLaren, and a wooden plaque with the clan motto on it. He didn't feel he should have unnecessary stuff to haul around, another reason he was avoiding any relationships at this time. Before graduating he had decided he wouldn't get tied down to anyone until he was at least a Lieutenant Commander, not like his father. He did love and respect his father, but the old man abandoned his post during the battle of wolf 359 to save his wife. Daniel lived with a sense of guilt that was based on the notion that if his father had stayed on post, and had ejected his ships warp core, the ship and her crew of over 900 may have been saved. Instead, Robert McLaren had snuck away, meeting his wife in an escape pod, and left the ship, intending on deserting Starfleet. The pod was damaged in launch, and was picked up after the battle by the U.S.S. Enterprise. Star Fleet never believed Robert's story of what happened, that there was an evacuation ordered, the ships logs proved that he had left post against orders, his court martial was very quick and painful, eternally haunting Robert McLaren. After serving seven years in a penal colony for his actions he moved back to the family farm. Two years later Daniel was born.

Daniel turned and walked out of the room, leaving nothing behind. He walked down the hallway, entered his new room. He walked into his bedchamber and quickly unpacked, putting away all his possessions in the same spaces that they had been removed from. He kept everything in an exact place; there was no chaos, no disorder in this soldier's life. He had spoken to Ulrik earlier, they went over the ground rules, they were in complete agreement and Daniel expected this to be a great situation for them both. "Computer, I'd like you to play a song for me, an old Celtic tune called The Butterfly, flute with traditional accompaniment." Soft music began playing. Daniel sat on the bed next to the room's computer terminal and began typing. He was looking for M. Keenan. The only references he found referred to a musician from Earth, from the late 20th century. Daniel was quite confused as to how a Musician from so long ago would be relevant enough to be on the dedication plaque of this ship. He then queried M. Keenan along with the words from the plaque, and discovered an article about Fibonacci sequence and its use in music and science. Apparently the mathematics used in most of engineering, from the ratio of matter to antimatter used for the warp core, to the theory behind the original navigational deflector owes to the mathematical theories based directly off the Fibonacci sequence, and this quote was from a song that demonstrated musically the use of such Mathematics. He then requested the computer play this song. Apparently one of the engineers in charge of the Arctic class of ship was a great admirer of both the Fibonacci sequence and of M. Keenan, and was able to convince Starfleet Command to use this quote for the Alaska, as it was the best representation of the spirit of exploration found in the naming of the ship as well as the harmonious mathematics used in this and all other star fleet vessels. Daniel began writing a report on all of this, researching more about Fibonacci while writing. He didn't stop until he heard Ulrik come in roughly six hours later.

Daniel stood up, stretching, noticing his feet had gone to sleep, and walked into the joint living room. "Hey Ulrik I…" was all he said before he saw Ulrik standing near the doorway to his bedroom, door open with his arms wrapped around someone, someone with dark hair, they were kissing passionately, Daniel couldn't see who it was but had a suspicion, and left the living room, heading for the ships lounge. He entered; all the tables were full except the one Ensign Bera was at. This was not surprising; Bolian cuisine was something that most humans found less than appetizing. Bolians enjoyed their food to be more aged that most humans do, slightly past the point were most other species would have thrown an item away. He walked over to Bera's table.

"Bera, may I sit here?" he asked.

"Certainly Daniel. How are you doing today?" she asked

"good. I just finished writing a report for the captain, I need someone to read it and tell me what they think. Any chance I could persuade you?" he replied.

"sure, I usually just read romance novels but I'll take a look at your report" she said

"romance novels? I never would have thought you'd read romance novels, you seem – too tough for them" he replied with a bemused expression.

"actually they're great. See, my father raised me by himself, he ran a freight hauling business between Bolarus and the Tholian sector. I never really got any interaction with humans, so dad gave me novels to teach me about people, that is why I'm such an expert on humans." She said proudly

"Seriously? Wow, okay that explains a lot." He said, trying desperately not to laugh out loud.

"I was about to get a drink, do you want anything?" she asked

"yeah, I'd really love a Stout beer." He replied

"ok, I'll be right back." She said as she stood up and headed to the bartender.

Bera returned a few minutes later with their drinks, Bera had something that looked like a milkshake but had a very bitter, pungent aroma. Daniel passed his PADD to her she began reading it while Daniel sipped his stout. About a minute later Seja walks in, heading to a recently vacated seat at the bar.

"that was quick" Daniel said under his breath before Seja could get close enough to hear.

"what was quick?" asked Bera, looking up from the PADD.

"um, lets just say that Ulrik and Seja were getting pretty friendly in his quarters about twenty minutes ago." He replied

"Really? She told me he wasn't speaking to her right now" she said.

"well, I don't think there was much talking going on, if you know what I mean." Daniel gave her a knowing look.

"REALLY! Wow! Such stormy passions going on right under our noses! I knew it!" she said, giggling.

"I think we should just let them be, when they want to be public about what's going on, I'm sure they will be, plus with us as their roommates they can't exactly hide it forever." Daniel mused.

Bera went back to reading Daniels report, stopping to take a sip of her drink every so often and giggle. "The amount of research and attention to detail is amazing. The Captain will be impressed by this I'm sure."

"Thank you. So, what are you drinking?" Daniel asked

"Oh, this? It's a Bolian milkshake, it's aged for three days at room temp before serving. Gives it a thicker consistency and helps with the growth of spicy blue mold." She said before taking another sip.

"Spicy? Ok remind me not to ask again." He replied with a queasy look.

"what? Its delicious! C'mon, be a man and try a sip." she said with a smile.

Daniel, never backing down from a challenge, took the offered cup, held it up to his mouth, took a gulp and sat the cup down. The last thing he heard was the bartender, who had been watching, exclaim "oh no, Sickbay to lounge on the double, we have a BFEI, repeat a Bolian Food Exposure Incident "after that the room started spinning and the colors started bleeding together in the most disturbing way. Daniel looked at the bartender who had transformed into a giant rabbit with a name tag that read _Hi, my name is Frank_. Daniel then stood up, saluted the birds that he saw playing banjo, and collapsed.

In the science department, Commander Starling was observing the information coming in from the shuttle and had patched the science view screen directly into the shuttles monitor, giving her a view that could otherwise only be seen from in the shuttle. They were close enough to be able to use the ships sensors for a detailed cell structure scan. They had already completely mapped the anatomical, electrical, and chemical make up of the space jellies and were now attempting to calculate their metabolic cycle and growth rates, with that knowledge they could extrapolate life length and cycle, including potential breeding cycles. The shuttle was hovering less than ten meters from a cluster of space jellies, they did not appear to notice the shuttles. Ulrik entered the department, nodding to Commander Starling.

"Ulrik, glad you could come early, Lieutenant Burke had to leave early, I need you to take the lead monitor station. Focus on the electrical and chemical output of the jellies we can use that to figure out their hormone levels." Commander Starling wandered over to his station to talk privately. "you've been a bit somber the last day or so, are you ok?" she said

"yes ma'am. I'm just having issues with a friend. She mentioned something that stirred up bad memories."

"is that all? Well, that begs the question as to what's more important, the past or the future."

"doesn't the past set precedent for the future?" he asked.

"not always. In quantitative facts it can, but in subjective fields like emotions and the truth? It's all simple algebra with ever fluctuating variables. I don't know all the details, but you seem to be a fairly good judge of character, I doubt this is anything that you and your friend can't grow beyond." She said.

"You're right, I should talk to her and stop sulking." He replied

"Commander, there's something you need to see" shouted another member of the science team

"Yes Ms. Anderson, what is it?"

"at first I thought it was nothing, but some of the local meteorites were giving off energy in what could almost be patterns. They're also composed of rather unique crystal structures of carbon, silicon, and mercury. I've been monitoring them, they started roughly five hundred kilometers from here and have now moved past our ship, independent of any external force that I can detect."

"that's not possible, are you sure there's not a computer glitch"

"yes ma'am. I ran a diagnostic, I asked Lieutenant Morgenstern to do a systems check, I called down to engineering and had them run a check, it all checks out, we have a cluster of fifteen meteors that have not only altered trajectory more than once, but have both increased and decreased speed. This looks a lot like pack behavior amongst predatory animals. " said the Lieutenant.

"this is amazing, get this into a report and up to the captain now, we need to get the folks in the shuttle back here now, star fleet officers are not hors d'oeuvres." said the commander.

This time Ulrik looked up to Commander Starling "Commander, we've lost all communications with the shuttlecraft. I was trying to send them the return message, and its not being received.

Daniel woke up in sick bay with Dr Sarel looking at him.

"Did you take galactic culture Mr. McLaren? I am quite certain they usually cover what exotic foods are safe to try. "

"um, I didn't do well in that class, kept getting everything confused with Gach." He replied, wearily.

"You may consider this to be your lesson. No Bolian meats or dairy, their stomachs can endure stress that the human anatomy cannot, and require certain bacteria that can prove fatal in some humans. You can expect inflammation of the joints and face, this is a result of the trace amounts of what we were unable to pump out of you plus the antibiotics. If you experience any difficulty breathing or swallowing, hit the emergency button on your bed."

"can I go now?" Daniel asked

"No, we need to keep you here for a few more hours just for observation. The manager of the lounge has made a full report of the incident to you department head, you and Ensign Bera will be on cleaning detail during your off hours for the next week. I recommend that you rest. If you need further assistance Dr Neric will be arriving in a few minutes, I have presentation to record for Starfleet medical." He said. Daniel lay back on his bed and rested, hoping the time would fly by. He heard the door to sickbay open and then close, heard Dr Nerics voice talking softly to one of the nurses before the Doctor came over to Daniels bed. The ship went to yellow alert.

"So Daniel, other than the obvious, how are you doing?"

Daniel smiled as he opened his eyes, the doctor had a natural charisma, "I'm ok. What's the yellow alert for?

"Apparently there's some problem in communicating with the research shuttle they sent out, something to do with rocks behaving oddly, all stuff that neither of us is high enough rank to be consulted about. Don't worry, I'm sure they'll see the rocks." Replied the Doctor

"Am I just imagining it or was Dr Sarel a bit irritable for a Vulcan?" he asked

"you do realize his wife runs the ships lounge, right? There's a small section of carpet that has to be replaced, and then there's the explanation to Starfleet Health and Medical as to how Bolian food was so easily accessible to a human. Don't worry, it'll all blow over, you'll do a little cleaning for a week, then it'll all be forgotten, although I've seen images of what happened, it was a spectacular mess, I would never had imagined you could generate that volume of fluid, it was amazing."

"Thanks I think." He said.

"Cheer up, Daniel. This isn't the end. How are you doing with the new room?"

"Oh, good I guess. I spent most of my time so far researching a report for the captain. Saw Ulrik briefly, but he was um, occupied with a certain dark haired person."

"Someone we know?"

"I'm pretty sure, I only saw the hair so I can't say for certain that it wasn't a tribble, but I think it was Seja."

"Really? Last I heard he wasn't speaking to her. Lucky him." Said the doctor with a grin

Daniel just sighed, "If you say so. I'm avoiding anything that would get between me and my career. No women, kids, or pets before LC." He said.

"Daniel, not to be nosy, but did you have any girlfriends before Starfleet?"

"Nope, no time for them."

"you do realize that they don't issue women with the rank pip right? It can take years to build a relationship, and that's assuming you already have social skills, which, no offense intended, but you don't. I'd strongly recommend you rethink the no women policy before you end up like many star fleet captains, with only a cold metal ship to comfort you at night. Life is about living, not careers or promotions." With that the Doctor turned and walked off, sitting down at a desk.

Daniel, slightly shocked not only to be getting life advice from a doctor who'd been fired from more bases and posts than Daniel could count on one hand but that the advice actually sounded good laid back and tried to rest. He closed his eyes and almost immediately fell asleep. He dreamed about sitting in the Captain's chair of the Alaska, he was old and grey, and even as Captain was feeling as life had passed him by. The dream changed and he was in a cemetery, a casket was lowered into the ground., the headstone simply read Daniel Lewis McLaren, Captain 2376-2480, the only people that were in attendance were a Minister speaking aloud and a man with a shovel and dirty overalls. The dream changed again, he was wearing a Lieutenant rank pip, everyone was formally dressed, and he was standing to the right side of Captain Dallas. The bridal march was playing and a woman, dressed in a bride's gown was marching down the isle, her face covered by a veil. She walked up and stood next to Daniel, and began to lift the veil, Daniel saw only that this woman had dark hair before the dream dissolved into a bright light, and he heard choose your fate being said. Daniel woke up, asked the computer what time it was, it was 00:41, Daniel had been sleeping for about 7 hours. He stood up, walked over to the doctor's office. One of the physician's assistance was sitting at the desk, looked up at Daniel and said "Dr Neric had to leave early to attend a meeting; he said you could go when you woke up". Daniel smiled and replied "Thank you." Before leaving sickbay and heading over to Bera's room. He hit the door chime. Seja answered the door within a few seconds. She was wearing bright pink shorts that could have been for working out or sleeping, and a grey short sleeved shirt that read Star Fleet Academy. "Hey Daniel. Bera's asleep, I assume you're wanting your report, it's on the coffee table, come on in."

"Trouble sleeping?" Daniel asked, genuine concern in his voice.

"yeah, I've always had trouble sleeping at night, I get three to four hours of sleep on average if I take sleeping meds. I hate sleeping meds. I spend most nights staring at diagrams of computer code and trying to think of ways to make them better. Did you hear about the shuttle?" She asked.

"no, what happened out there?" he asked

" apparently the space jellies are the prey for some creatures that look just like meteors. A pack of the meteors swooped in to go after the young. They sent out an energy field that interfered with communications but the shuttle started heading back as soon as they realized they lost contact. They got back with no problem. The meteors got a few of the babies and an adult, we think it was a rather old one. One of the adult jellies managed to destroy a meteor. I think science has collected some of the fragments from both species for study. It was just like a pack of Enix tearing into a herd of Tiber yaks."

"Wow. Are we still studying them?"

"yes, the jellies got up and left en masse right after being attacked. The meteor things consumed their kills and then came over to us, but they couldn't get past our shields. They fell back and are watching us, as we watch them." she said

"Do you want to go do something?" he asked, smiling.

"we could go to the ships lounge." She said

"um, no, they're closed right now, some kind of twelve step meeting, plus I was thinking something more energetic" he said

"Like?" she replied

"How about dancing? There's a rumor that Chief engineer Tourej runs a dance in the holodeck once a week, and from what I heard it should be tonight. It's based on an ancient earth dance style called raving. I don't know much about it but it's supposed to be fun." He replied

"It sounds like fun. Should I wear anything special?" she said.

"what you have is perfect. Follow me?" he said, heading to the holodeck with her in tow.

When they arrived at the holodeck they found only one in use, with a sign next to it reading _If you want to dance, come in. _They entered and were greeted by what they thought was at first a computer error. Loud repetitive music, flashing colorful lights, smoke, and an absolutely jam packed dance floor, with Chief Engineer Tourej in the middle of a crowd. The majority of dancers were of a holographic nature, but there were a few real life individuals. Daniel and Seja slipped into the crowd and got lost in the rhythm. They stayed close together and spent most of the time dancing with one another, bodies matching and moving to the sound beating in their ears and hearts. It was loud, fast, and energetic, the both of them tiring after only one hour of dancing. They slipped out of the crowd and found a bar. The holographic bartender said "all drinks are on the house, but they're not holograms, what you see is what you get" Seja grabbed a glass of Andorian brandy and found it to be the real stuff indeed, and very potent. Daniel grabbed what he thought was a tall glass of water but found after drinking to be vodka. They both went back to dancing and lasted for another hour

"Daniel, I'm starting to get sleepy, and I'm a little drunk, wanna head out?" Seja said with a smile.

"okay, lead the way" was the bleary response

they left, hand in hand, slightly leaning on each other for support.

When Seja woke up the next morning, she quickly realized she wasn't in her bed. The room didn't smell of the Vulcan morning blooming fern that her mother had given her at graduation from the academy. Her grandmother's quilt, the only possession that she managed to bring with her from Romulus was also not here. Furthermore, there was someone in the bed with her. She thought briefly _Did I climb into Bera's bed? _Before Daniel rolled over, snoring at her. She did a quick clothing check to find that she was indeed still wearing her bra and underwear and that Daniel was wearing boxers. While she was sitting there thinking as to whether or not she could leave without waking him, he woke up, and gave a very confused look when he saw her.

"um, hi, uh, I don't remember much about last night, did we-?"

"I don't think we did, but I don't know for sure."

"wow, um, this is rather awkward"

"do you want breakfast?"

"um, you did hear me say this was rather awkward, right?"

"well, yeah, but I think it would be best to talk now rather than be confused and irrational everytime we see one another in the corridor. Its just breakfast, and I do a wonderful job replicating breakfast. Trust me."

"That's sort of where I'm having an issue, with trust. okay, I'll have breakfast, we'll talk, but we should get clothes first."

"okay, you first"

"um, I'm sorry, I'm feeling a little shy, its been a very long time since I woke up with someone next to me."

"okay, how about we both stand up at the same time, grab our clothes and dress with our eyes only on what's ours?"

"deal"

They both stood at the same time, but Seja kept the sheet covering herself like a cloak as she dressed.

"hey now, that's not fair, I'm all exposed and you're hiding under a sheet" Daniel protested.

"Sorry Daniel, I come from a long line of individuals that value their privacy. One of my ancestors was one of the designers of the original Cloaking Device. Plus you didn't specify anything about the sheet." At this point she dropped the sheet, and was in her shorts and t-shirt once again, while Daniel was only half way in his uniform. Daniel rolled his eyes and asked "okay, how do you feel about crepes"

"never had them. I would like strawberries" she said.

"I'll make you crepes with strawberries if you want" he said

"okay" she replied.

He was now fully dressed, checked the clock out of habit, and went out of his room and to the replicator in the living room. She followed, sitting down on the couch.

Daniel turned, looked at her and said "can I ask you something Seja?"

"you just did" she replied with a smirk.

"You know what I mean. What's the deal with you and Ulrik, are you lovers?"

"I used to wish. No Daniel, I'm not his type, although I did have a huge crush when I first met him, part of me always will. I just wish he'd talk to me."

At that moment the door to Ulriks bedroom opened, and Ulrik stepped out wearing a bathrobe. "I heard your voice Seja. I've been thinking a lot since the dinner party. I should apologize to you, I overreacted. I'm sorry."

"You have nothing to be sorry about, I brought up the subject of Lutefisk"

Daniel, looked at both Seja and Ulrik for a moment, "okay, what is a lutefisk, and what happened?"

"Ancient Scandinavian dish. It's fish that has been dried in sunlight and preserved with the ash of certain trees. It's then reconstituted and served with butter. It's a long story." Replied Seja.

"Tell me" said Daniel.

"Go ahead, Seja, its ok" said Ulrik.

"Okay. It was my second year at the academy. One of the instructors at the academy had just been promoted to admiral, I was invited to the celebration party because I was one of the top students in his class, Ulrik was there, and his boyfriend was the admiral's student aide. During the party, the student package delivery service stops in and hands Ulrik a box from his mother. Apparently she sent it about three months earlier and it kept setting off quarantine alarms, causing it to be delivered extremely late. He forgot she sent it and opened it right next to his friend and the admiral. The package had lutefisk in it that was, um, fermenting at that point, and it exploded all over everyone within 10 meters. The admiral had told Ulrik's boyfriend that he'd be a lieutenant as soon as he graduated later that year, but changed his mind after the party. Suddenly Ulriks boyfriend stopped speaking to him, and Ulrik is a big sobbing mess. Now, when I'm feeling excessively close to you I think of that incident, but I can't explain why I said it. I know it reminds you of that painful time, and I should never have said it." She said, looking to Ulrik mournfully.

"Yes, but that's the past and I'm ready to get over it and move on. Daniel, Seja, I'd like to introduce someone. This is Justin." a handsome dark haired and slightly shorter man walked up from behind Ulrik and wrapped his arm around Ulriks waist. "We've been seeing each other discretely for about three weeks now. He works for the Civilian support services. I think many of my past roommates have left because of my sexuality and didn't want to admit it. I'm tired of people being prejudice. I'm going to live my life openly. I hope this is not a problem for you Daniel. "

"No, its not, I just didn't think you were. I was mostly worried that you were going to be furious at me for waking up with her. I have an uncle who is gay."

"Oh wow, congratulations! Is it ok if we join you two for breakfast?"

"Sure" said Daniel, as he waked over to the replicator. He returned a few minutes later with a tray of crepes, coffee, several fruits and whipped cream.

"Ulrik, we're not sure if anything happened, so…"

"Still, willingness to share a bed, even platonically shows certain subconscious trust, as long as no one is taken advantage of it's a good thing. Daniel's a good guy, don't worry."

"Or it shows that this room was closer to the Holodeck as we stumbled back than mine. I'm just really not sure how to handle this. I don't want to be another notch on someone's bedpost if something did happen. "She said

"Seja, I just wouldn't do that. My momma only raised one fool and he's still on Earth. I like you and value your friendship. I know I wasn't very nice when we first met but I respect you as a friend, as a fellow officer and as a beautiful and intelligent woman. If something happened last night we deal with it like the adults that we are. " Daniel said.

"Yes Daniel, but what does that mean? Are we just friends, are we friends with benefits, are we dating, are we lovers?" she said with a sigh.

"How about we go out tomorrow night, have dinner together, talk, and see where that takes us. If we decide that we're good as friends but not more, I'm ok with that, but I'd like to have the chance to be more with you." Daniel said.

"okay, dinner tomorrow, ships lounge" she said before stabbing a large strawberry with her fork.

"I can't do the lounge. I had an incident there yesterday, I'm not sure if I'm welcome back yet." Daniel said sheepishly.

"how about holodeck 2? We could do a double date, you two, Justin and myself?" said Ulrik while sipping his coffee.

"sounds good to me". You have whipped crème on you chin, Daniel" said Seja, finishing her crepes

"Thank you." Daniel said and wiped his chin. "I need to get ready, my shift starts in half an hour." he said, taking his dishes to the replicator.

"same here" said Ulrik.

"I really should be going too" said Seja. They each cleaned up after themselves and then Seja left, saying bye to each and giving Daniel an awkward hug.

She walked back to her quarters, Bera was on the couch watching a news and gossip feed on the main monitor.

"Oh my God Seja, I had to run to the bridge at five this morning, and I got to fire the ships phasers at the meteor things! It was only a really low powered and meant to convince them to stop ramming the ships shields, but still! Where were you last night?" Bera asked.

"I woke up next to Daniel. It's a long story, but I do want to talk to you about it later, right now I just need a clean uniform." Seja said on the way to her room. Seja showered and changed into her uniform, checked her messages, mother had not yet replied. When Seja left her room Bera still had an expression of shock and bewilderment. "I'll see you tonight, we'll talk." She said as she walked out heading to engineering.

_Chief Engineer Tourej's personal log, star date 45244.8. I was excited to see Seja and Daniel at the rave last night, even if it was a short visit. They need to work on their stamina. Ensign Seja has returned to duty with strength and renewed vigor, she's managed to boost data transmission speeds to and from the main ships computer by three percent and get the computer itself to operate at five percent above peak efficiency on a regular basis. I like what I see from her, I just hope the Enterprise doesn't try stealing her away. I did insist she only work a half shift today, which she didn't like, but this is the Doctor's orders so that's what I'm going by. I wonder if she realizes how interested in her he is. Hell, I wonder if she knows how interested in her I am. Lieutenants Rister and Limmer have not only managed to get each other into trouble but they did a very poor job at repairs, I'm going to have to request that they be transferred out of here, I'm tired of them already. Maybe a mining ship would suit them more. Lieutenant Johnson did a stellar job on the shuttle mission and will be getting high recommendations from me. Log end._ She walked away from her station and over to the main computer interface where a group of engineers were studying what Seja did while she explained it.

"Okay Seja, you've been here four hours, I know you love it but I have to kick you out. Come back tomorrow." She said. Tourej then got very close to Seja and whispered "if your interested, next weeks rave is Thursday night, Holodeck 4, around twenty two hundred."

"Thank you ma'am." Seja said with a smile.

"Any plans for the rest of the day?" Tourej asked

"A little yoga and then work on my social skills in the lounge." She said

"Good. Have fun pretty lady." replied the engineer as she walked away.

Seja grinned and shook her head in amusement.

On the bridge Daniel exited the Captains office and sat at the helm, checking to make sure the ship was still on course and at the right speed, he ran a self diagnostic on the helm to make sure it was running right. He noticed Ensign Bera was at the tactical station and was looking towards him while fidgeting, she seemed very excited. She finally came over to his station and whispered "you have to tell me what happened!"

"not much to tell, but we'll talk after the shift is over."

"Daniel, I am going to explode. Tell me now!"

"have you been into Tourej's energy supplements? Calm yourself girl, we'll talk, later." he said

"Ensign Bera, I need you to report to deck 29, section E." said Lieutenant Register over her communicator.

Bera gave a frustrated look, turned and marched off to the turbo lift while Daniel gave a small chuckle.

_Captains log star date 45245.0. The science department has been pulling a double duty studying the brown dwarf that we came for, the space jellies that we found and what have been dubbed the shark rocks by some. We've planted discrete tracking devices on the Jellies and a few of the shark rocks, official taxonomy to be determined by star fleet science. In other news Ensign McLaren turned in a fabulous report regarding the motto on the ships plaque and why its there, as well as where and who it came from; rumor has it that he's exploring that quote in regards to his own life, let's hope it leads to a happy shore. We will be leaving this area shortly for other crucial business, and I think I speak for the whole crew in wishing the young jellies a safe voyage. Log End. _

Seja walked into the ships lounge, scanned the crowd and noticed Doctor Neric sitting at a table by himself. He looked up at her and smiled, beckoning her to join him. She walked over, he stood up and held out a single yellow rose for her. "Yellow is for friendship. Would you like something to drink?" he asked.

"Carrot juice, please. Have you been here long?" she asked.

"I've had the day off, thought I'd hang out here" he said, standing up and walking to the bar. He returned a few moments later with their drinks. 

"The rose is lovely, how did you know I'd be coming here?" she asked

"Well, first I had your roommate plant a sub dermal tracking chip, then I bribed Tourej with a liter of pure undiluted caffeine to send you off at a certain time before coming here ten hours ago to stake the place out. I'm joking, I didn't have a clue when or if you'd be coming by, but given your stated desire to socialize and the time of day that Lieutenant Tourej said she'd be sending you out of Engineering, this was the logical choice. The rose is one that Juliana grew. She's Sarel's wife, she runs the lounge and grows plants in her spare time. She gave me a potted bush of them earlier today and I clipped one to bring with me fifteen minutes ago. "

They spent several hours talking, and had dinner before parting ways. As Seja walked back to her room she realized that she was developing feelings for Neric. She was also developing feelings for Daniel, and wasn't sure how to handle this. She stood just outside the doorway to her room, knowing that she was about to get a barrage of questions from Bera "Well, like they say back home, sometimes you just have to go with the flow." She said to herself before she walked into her room.


End file.
